There’s a funny picture floating around India that you’ll see on t-shirts and bumper stickers (okay so I’ve only seen one, but it proved to be an eidetic moment this month). It’s labeled, “Moustaches Of India” and it depicts in a cartoon fashion many of the popular moustache styles in the country. It is considered a thing of respect to have a moustache, and most Indian men don a rather stylish, well-kept one.
This got me thinking about how I could relate it with some level of symbolism to my journey or Christian faith that would be appropriate for this blog. Only a few ideas came to mind but escaped like a wisp of clear air (which is rare in this part of the world?) so for now, take it as an entertaining tidbit of information. And if you want to be further entertained, just Google ‘moustaches of India’ images to check out the wild array of facial features my team is exposed to almost daily.
January is a busy month for Team GRANOLA. Now, I’m limited in the amount of information I can give you, but I will share what I can. Let’s start with our local contacts. So, the way the World Race works is this: the home office forms and maintains contact with individuals in any given region of a number of countries, always looking to expand and add regions and ministries. AIM keeps a primary contact here who does a great job of seeking out ministries and keeping all his ducks in a row. From there, K Squad’s teams are assigned to different locations within the country, and thus assigned to different ministries. My team’s ministry, and therefore our entire monthly experience, may completely contrast that of another team. To give you the scoop on a slightly more micro-level, my team has been assigned to a contact near the giant city of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, which sits near the mid-western coast of India. I couldn’t feel more privileged to be a part of his ministry and accomplishments, which are proving to be quite visionary. This month, GRANOLA is working primarily with kids! The term ‘orphanage’ can be seen as borderline offensive to some here in India, so we’ll keep away from that word, but essentially that’s the kind of place in which we’re serving.
The team has been broken down into mini-teams of 3 to serve two different locations every day, one being the childrens’ house, and the other being a learning and care facility in one of the red-light districts nearby. We alternate duties every other day, so one week I will go to the kids’ home MWF, and the care center TR, with Saturday being spent at the kids’ home with all of the team. The next week will be opposite. Even in writing this blog I get excited thinking about these kids and the work that’s taking place in this community! Let me try to explain what our days look like…
We pretty regularly have breakfast as a team at the kids’ home around 8:30am. As we finish up eating, the kids begin to trickle in, freshly awoken from their slumber. After breakfast, half of our team leaves for the red-light facility, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Our half teams consist of one guy and two girls. That means that I get to spend all day (until about 5:30pm) playing with the boys! This is because the girls on my team build relationships with the girls and women at the house, and I with the guys. There are about 20 little guys ranging in age from 4 to 15. Let me just say that I’m exhausted at the end of the day! I forgot what it’s like to have a seemingly endless supply of energy and will to play games like badminton, kickball, rock-paper-scissors, and newly discovered cricket and carrom. Lunch comes around 1:30pm, and is followed by naptime, which usually lasts until about 4:30. After 5 or 6, we are allowed to go back to our residence two blocks away and rest before dinner at 8:30pm. The kids are still wound up pretty tightly at this time of night, and often require some more play time before settling down. They go to school during the day, but in shifts, so there’s always a group at the house. Class here in this part of India is usually from 6am to 12pm, or 1pm to 6pm, or sometimes 10 or 11am to 3pm. I really haven’t figured out the academic schedule yet, but that’s of minimal importance here.
Before I talk about the other facility, let me describe our meals! This is by far some of the best food I’ve eaten, and we get it every single day, in large quantities! Breakfast could be something pink or yellow that has the consistency of cold Cream-of-Wheat, but hot, and it tastes like all typical American breakfast foods combined (eggs, bacon, buttered toast with jam). Needless to say, it’s awesome. Or it could be this strange pile of little clear and white balls that have a bit of a jelly texture but taste again like an assortment of typical breakfast foods, with a little spice added. We get doses of chai tea or super milky coffee several times a day, and routinely have tea and biscuits (wheaty shortbread cookies) with breakfast. For lunch and dinner it’s usually a base of rice doused in dal, this yellow colored spice mixture that’s got a few grains or seeds or veggies in it. Add a side of super spicy potatoes, perhaps mixed with cooked spinach, or sprouts that have been seasoned in oil and various spices, and so on. Garlic and onions are used frequently, if not fervently, to deepen flavor and aroma. This is without a doubt the most I’ve eaten in terms of spice and carbohydrates in consecutive days. It’s quite wonderful! Oh and I can’t forget chapatti! This is much like a tortilla, but somehow 100 times better in terms of flavor, even though it has roughly the same simple ingredients with a slightly more chewy texture.
Okay, now let’s talk about the off-site location. This is a refuge for kids who are the children of commercial sex industry workers. Many of the women here have not had exposure or access to the gospel, and their children grow up only knowing the various gods and idols worshipped for generations. My heart goes out to those trapped in bondage of idolatry and normalized sin. For many women, the sex industry seems to be their only hope of income and providing food for themselves or their family, while for others, they simply can’t help their circumstances because they were literally purchased at a young age and forcefully employed by twisted men who are in it for profit. $1500US will outright purchase a girl (the BBC had an interesting but telling interview broadcasted last week about exploitation of women in India). After that, they’re forced into ‘serving’ a multitude of men daily, exposed to HIV and countless other diseases. Usually once they become pregnant, they’re either ‘fired’, forced to give up their child, or at the least, neglect them. Enter this visionary center for redemption.
My role here is simple; interact with the children in such a way that gives them hope. We teach them English, sing songs and dance with them, and feed them lunch every day that is prepared onsite in the simplest of kitchens. The true testament to love and care lies within the women who work for this organization. They can prepare the most fabulous of meals with the most rudimentary of ingredients and kitchenware, without showing a hint of losing energy or drive. The kids truly are happy to receive Westerners into their lives, joyous to learn songs with us and to learn English, and even to teach us Hindi (local language). We get the opportunity to share Bible stories with them, and pray before the meal (which they memorize). This is a slow and gradual exposure to the truth of our one true God, all the while teaching us that nothing can replace His all-encompassing, everlasting love, and I see that it is working with immeasurable intensity in this area. Once a week, we walk out among the row-houses and slums to pray for friends and kids’ parents. I’ll describe the landscape and buildings in my next blog post in order to keep this one at short story status rather than novel. The blessing is not only extended to the children, but to their parents, mostly the mothers, who get a firsthand view of the loving care of God’s followers. It takes dedication, perseverance, and a constant pursuit of Him in order to maintain this kind of life of constant servant hood, and to be a part of this effort makes me the target of humility and joy in a way that I cannot describe.
The dedication and vision doesn’t stop anywhere near here though. Unfortunately I can’t disclose more information to you at this time, but if you’d like to hear more about it, please email me and I’ll make sure you are included. Until then, please pray for me and my team. While our work here is extremely rewarding spiritually, it is draining, and our tired bodies are exposed to illnesses and exhaustion regularly, and once the body is tired, it becomes all too easy for the mind and heart to grow weak. Already in the past 6 weeks of being on this team, I have been dreadfully ill twice, one team member has had Dengue Fever, another was briefly hospitalized due to a mixture of symptoms, and yet another has recurring days of congestion and sore throat. But rest assured that our prayers to God are heard and are being answered, so keep them coming. More details coming soon…
